When I was a boy, I heard many sermons in the church where I attended. Time and time again, I was told that Jesus loved me and He was a wonderful Shepherd and Counselor and all those other glorious names. Therefore, I want to be a Christian. You know, I wanted Jesus to take care of me and be my protector. And I needed it. Why did I need a protector you might ask? No it wasn’t from the bully at school or from an older sibling whipping up on me. It was from the wrath of God the Father! Yes, I thought that God, you know, the old guy on the throne with the white beard (the God in the Old Testament)… was not happy with me because I was… a sinner!
For a long time, I thought this way and I was relieved when I learned that this concept was not something I just dreamed up. Other people, maybe even you, identified with this view as well. Theologian Baxter Kruger says, “The ideas that God, the Father needed to be appeased in order to accept us, and that Jesus became human in order to suffer the wrath of his Father on the cross so that we could be accepted, always struck me as terribly wrong. But, growing up in the deep South, such notions were all one ever heard, and heard repeatedly, and still do. In this atonement theory, the Father is in two minds about us, or, at the very least, there are two sides of the Father, the one being the righteous, just and holy side, the other being the graceful, merciful and loving side. The one thing we knew for sure about God was that he could not simply forgive us and accept us as his fallen creatures. The truth, we were told is that He could not even look upon us vile sinners. His holiness and justice and righteousness demanded satisfaction before forgiveness could become a reality. And so on the cross Jesus bowed as the Father’s holiness, justice and righteousness formed into wrath against our sin and was poured out upon him instead of us.”
The trouble with this understanding of God is that there is no forgiveness at all. The Father simply takes out His wrath against the Son. We are told that we should be glad it’s Him (Jesus) and not us! While Jesus can become human and live amongst us, eat with us, heal us, and love us, the Father is stuck on the outside because His holiness and perfection cannot look upon sin and we cannot be accepted because we are sinners. Thus, we have a Father who is of one nature and a Son who is of another.
Scripture teaches that God (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) is ONE God, yet three persons. This concept is called the Trinity. While it is not expressly stated in the Bible, it is specifically implied. Texts like John 14:9 “he who has seen me, has seen the Father”, John 10:30 “I and the Father are one”, and Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” all indicate that, in Jesus Christ, God the Father is revealed as well.
In his book, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, St. Athanasius comments on this subject. He says, “As, then, the creatures whom He had created…were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good to do?” The old saint of the Church knew that God was of one nature God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness are in tune with His love and mercy. God refused to abandon His creation and decided before the beginning of time to let nothing come between Him and us, not even sin. Thus, Jesus is not the sacrifice to God on our behalf, NO… God the Father and Son are at work in tandem. God pronounces a mighty word of grace to us all through the cross. Romans 8 is trying to remind us of this truth when it says, “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” The Father and the Son invite you (through the Holy Spirit) to enter into a love affair. They already have a crush on you!
For a long time, I thought this way and I was relieved when I learned that this concept was not something I just dreamed up. Other people, maybe even you, identified with this view as well. Theologian Baxter Kruger says, “The ideas that God, the Father needed to be appeased in order to accept us, and that Jesus became human in order to suffer the wrath of his Father on the cross so that we could be accepted, always struck me as terribly wrong. But, growing up in the deep South, such notions were all one ever heard, and heard repeatedly, and still do. In this atonement theory, the Father is in two minds about us, or, at the very least, there are two sides of the Father, the one being the righteous, just and holy side, the other being the graceful, merciful and loving side. The one thing we knew for sure about God was that he could not simply forgive us and accept us as his fallen creatures. The truth, we were told is that He could not even look upon us vile sinners. His holiness and justice and righteousness demanded satisfaction before forgiveness could become a reality. And so on the cross Jesus bowed as the Father’s holiness, justice and righteousness formed into wrath against our sin and was poured out upon him instead of us.”
The trouble with this understanding of God is that there is no forgiveness at all. The Father simply takes out His wrath against the Son. We are told that we should be glad it’s Him (Jesus) and not us! While Jesus can become human and live amongst us, eat with us, heal us, and love us, the Father is stuck on the outside because His holiness and perfection cannot look upon sin and we cannot be accepted because we are sinners. Thus, we have a Father who is of one nature and a Son who is of another.
Scripture teaches that God (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) is ONE God, yet three persons. This concept is called the Trinity. While it is not expressly stated in the Bible, it is specifically implied. Texts like John 14:9 “he who has seen me, has seen the Father”, John 10:30 “I and the Father are one”, and Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” all indicate that, in Jesus Christ, God the Father is revealed as well.
In his book, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, St. Athanasius comments on this subject. He says, “As, then, the creatures whom He had created…were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good to do?” The old saint of the Church knew that God was of one nature God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness are in tune with His love and mercy. God refused to abandon His creation and decided before the beginning of time to let nothing come between Him and us, not even sin. Thus, Jesus is not the sacrifice to God on our behalf, NO… God the Father and Son are at work in tandem. God pronounces a mighty word of grace to us all through the cross. Romans 8 is trying to remind us of this truth when it says, “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” The Father and the Son invite you (through the Holy Spirit) to enter into a love affair. They already have a crush on you!
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